Chairman, Forum of commissioners of Arts, Culture and Tourism, Professor Ojo Rasaki have urged creative industry stakeholders like Nigeria’s Afrobeats artistes Davido, Burna Boy to promote Nigerian textiles.
The commissioner of Arts, Culture and Tourism spoke at the just concluded two-day Culture and Creative Summit (CCES) of the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) held recently in Abuja.
Rasaki who commended the ministry of culture and NCAC’s upcoming initiatives like the Creative Renaissance Project, Intellectual Property (IP) policy, MEFA among others, said while there is a noticeable paradigm shift in the creative sector, the shift should go hand in hand with a mindset change.
Such mindset change, he said, should not end with the government, but include amongst creative industry players like music artistes to help promote Nigerian culture and textiles.
“We seem to be going in the right direction with structure. The paradigm is shifting. What we need now is to focus on the mindset. We need to change mindset of individuals (states and federal executive members and council members) outside of the creative sector who think funding for festivals are for jamborees and parties, for our proposals to be passed and approved.”
“Any global artiste on the global stage promoting jeans is helping the Nigerian Textile workers to lose their jobs. We have work to do. That work does not end with the federal and state ministries rather we need to do more work with our industry players, because as the paradigm is shifting, mindsets must also change.”
Clarifying his statement, Rasaki stressed, “I am not talking about wearing trousers rather fabrics. Jeans is not a trouser. It is a fabric used in making trousers. Of course, if you use Adire and Asoke patches etc. you are promoting those fabrics. That is what I meant.”
He urged government to adequately fund the National Institute of Cultural Orientation (NICO) to efficiently attend to its mandate of creating awareness for Nigerian cultures, to engender the sector’s impact on the economy.
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